News and press releases

Between 21 and 24 April, Hispack will demonstrate to an array of different professionals all the benefits associated with packing, packaging and point of purchase products (PoP) at every stage: from product design and manufacture through to its distribution and arrival on the shelf. At an edition marked by innovation, sustainability, internationalization and a genuine connection with the real needs of packaging buyers, Hispack will be bringing together around 700 exhibitors – 26% of which are foreign – representing a total of 1,174 firms at the Gran Via Exhibition Centre in Barcelona.

“Packaging is a driving force behind innovation and recovery,” says the president of Hispack’s organizing committee, Javier Riera Marsá, who underlines the added value that good packaging management and planning can bring to the sectors of industry, mass consumption, distribution and retail, as well as the end consumer.

The leading show for the packaging industry in Spain will be shining a spotlight on machinery, technology and equipment, coding and labelling processes, sustainability, new materials, smart packaging, logistics and PoP, amongst others. Hispack also supplements its offering with exhibiting companies that will present innovative packaging solutions, responding to requests by a number of food, drink, perfume, cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies that are visiting the show.

In this respect, exhibits will include advances in active and smart packaging; solutions to combat fraud and prevent products from being imitated and pirated; formulas for personalizing packaging and 3D prototyping; convenience and ready-to-use packaging; and new materials, processes and applications for manufacturing more sustainable packaging.

By sectors, the package and packaging machinery and accessories will have the highest presence, followed by raw materials, packaging materials, and labelling, coding and marking equipment. Growth has also been noted in the handling and logistics industries and the PoP sector. Almost 26% of exhibitors will come from abroad, with companies from 23 countries.

Hispack’s firm commitment to internationalization also entails providing export opportunities for its exhibitors and attracting buyers and influencers from foreign markets, mainly Europe, the Mediterranean area and Latin America. Thus alongside the food technology fair BTA – with which it shares a venue and dates, as well as significant synergies – Hispack will be promoting business meetings, networking sessions and agendas for meetings with international buyers at the show. By means of reverse trade missions, business rounds, a Hosted Buyers programme and a brokerage event, as well as direct promotional campaigns in over 20 countries, the aim is to attract more than 3,500 foreign trade professionals, an increase of 15% compared to 2012. In conjunction with BTA, Hispack anticipates attracting some 35,000 visitors in total.

This year, Hispack is looking to enlarge the regular professional profile of its visitors. “As well as the managers of packaging, operations, logistics, maintenance, R&D and production – in other words, people with a more technical background who traditionally visit the fair – we want to attract visitors from the fields of marketing, advertising, business development, purchasing, design, distribution and retail, ecommerce and more,” says the director of Hispack, Xavier Pascual, who is confident that the show “will surprise people with its offering, contents and opportunities to network with other professionals.”

To achieve this, Hispack 2015 has created four specific themed areas: Trend Pack; Premium Pack; RetailArea and Pack&LogisticCorner. In these areas, there will be an exhibition area, presentation corners in which more than 200 speakers will take part and areas for facilitating networking between professionals and experts. Subjects will include the latest innovations in packaging, medium- and high-end products for the gourmet, beverage and cosmetics sectors, marketing, retail and logistics.

The show is also hosting events organized by companies and other organizations. In this respect, the Packaging Cluster has organized a seminar on printed electronics for the packaging sector and the Spanish Beverage Cans Association is organizing another session on the challenges and opportunities for metal packaging within the framework of sustainability. There will also be a Trade Marketing
Forum organized by IpMark.

As a complementary feature, Hispack will offer for the first time a financing advisory service designed especially for visiting companies. Consultants from PIMEC – the Catalan small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed workers association – will attend individually to visitors’ queries and help them choose the best financing options for each case.

Hispack will also be hosting the prize-giving ceremony for the Liderpack Awards, the most important distinctions for the packing, packaging and PoP industry in Spain. It will also present the updated version of the Hispack Barometer, a survey that analyses the trends that will be defining the next three years based on the views of 1,500 representatives of the sector.

The Spanish packaging industry is a cross-cutting sector which encompasses all kinds of activities that produce packaged products, from the manufacturers of raw materials, packaging, processing and bottling machinery, peripheral equipment and end-of-line machinery through to the end user. It is made up of 1,927 companies which employ 61,467 workers. Turnover in 2013 exceeded 18,000 million euros, 6.7% higher than in 2010, the date of the last sector report made by Hispack.